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In another move that threatens the open and free internet, Dutch courts have ruled that the countries ISPs must block access to The Pirate Bay or face fines of 10,000 euros per day. That massive of a fine will likely prevent any dissenters of the ruling, however, there are always ways around the blockade as shown in the UK.
Court rulings demanding ISPs block access to The Pirate Bay are stacking up in countries and one has to ask themselves what are the effects of the blocks? In this case these blocks aren't really going to do anything as they can be bypassed pretty easily. However, the idea that the government can order censorship is the scarier prospect.
These rulings are the first attacks on the site. The Pirate Bay is no stranger to trouble with the law as many companies have sued them for copyright infringement along with governments seizing the servers. It has persevered, but it will probably get tougher to do so as more court rulings come in. I know one thing, if the US government tries to make this ruling, I will be in the masses that protest.
In my opinion, this censorship goes against the heart of the first amendment. The Pirate Bay hosts no infringing material. Instead, they provide a roadmap on where to get it. It's akin to the US block on travel to Cuba. US citizens are prevented from going to Cuba, yet people still sell maps on how to get there and they are blocked.
It's a tough economy out there still, and it's hitting some companies harder than others. Nintendo, for the first time ever, posted a loss. Now Sony has reported its fiscal year 2012 results and the picture is bleak. Sony lost a record $5.55 billion as revenue fell 9.6% to $79.2 billion. This earns fiscal year 2012 the title of being Sony's worst year ever.
Sony is doing its best to remain strong through these tough times saying that the losses are mostly due to unforeseen circumstances. These unforeseen events would include a strong yen, an earthquake in Japan, and floods in Thailand. Not every sector of Sony lost money, but a few were hit extremely hard.
The company's Consumer Products & Services division is one of those that was hit hard. In 2011, they division posted a small profit, but this year sales were down 18.5% to $38.3 billion. This created a massive $2.8 billion loss for the company. None of this surprises shareholders, however, as Sony has posted difficult quarters during the year.
Sony is doing what it can to return to profitability. Sony has announced plans last month to lay off 10,000 employees to help its bottom line. Sony has also decided to focus on "One Sony" which will have Sony focusing on digital imaging, gaming, and the mobile market.
BlackBerry maker, Research in Motion (RIM) yesterday hired two new senior executives, with one of them taking the post of marketing chief as RIM hopes to regain market share that they lost to Apple's iPhone, and the various handsets that rock Google's Android OS.
RIM only recently announces losses mounting $125 million, as they battle declining smartphone sales. Compared to Q4 2011 where the company made a hefty $934 million profit, a drop to $125 million in losses is a stark change. At that time, RIM had just announced a management shakeup where we saw 20-year veteran Jim Baisillie step down from the board, as well as the CTO and COO for global operations leaving.
Who's the new chief marketing officer? Frank Boulben, who CEO Thorsten Heins describes as a critically important decision. Boulben leaves his previous position at LightSquared, where he was the executive vice president for strategy and marketing, with that company also struggling since Sprint left their partnership with the company after US regulators killed off plans it had for a nationwide broadband network.
One can see the similarities between HP's metal unibody-based Envy Spectre XT ultrathin, to Apple's MacBook Air. Firstly, HP's Spectre XT is the new flagship model of HP's just-announced Envy ultrathin lineup, which was born from VoodooPC's Envy laptops, which launched in June of 2008.
The VoodooPC Envy was one of the first non-Apple ultrathins to arrive on the market mere months after the launch of the MacBook Air from Apple. While the Voodoo Envy didn't look that much like the MacBook Air, HP's line-up of ultrathin's have slowly been sliding into the MacBook Air's skin since release.
The latest release was enough for HP's vice president of industrial design, Stacy Wolff, to go on the defensive. He told Engadget:
[The Spectre XT's looks are] not due to Apple but due to the way technologies developed. It is not because those guys did it first. It's just that's where the form factor is leading it.
He specifically points to his design's rubber imbued bottom, slightly different keyboard, and a brushed metal body as key differentiators. We all know Apple is trigger-happy when it comes to suing companies, but Wolff has stated that the design was approved by his lawyers, so we shouldn't see any problems.
Want a GEFORCE GTX 680? Well, line up behind the eleventy million other people who want one, but things are set to change. The relationship between NVIDIA and its principal foundry partner, TSMC, has been rocky for quite sometime now. Team Green were also not happy with TSMC's 28nm manufacturing capacity, but then give them praise in other areas.
NVIDIA have threatened to
break up with TSMC find another foundry partner for bulk manufacturing, with reports pointing to Samsung preparing qualification samples for it, TSMC had a change of heart and have promised NVIDIA a priority over their other clients such as Qualcomm and AMD for the manufacturing of their 28nm chips.
NVIDIA were not quiet on being unhappy with TSMC's output, and its new policy of charging for wafers rather than working chips yielded, NVIDIA refuted rumors of it seeking other foundry partners such as Global Foundaries and Samsung. Now NVIDIA are on high-priority, TSMC will make sure to see a speedy launch of new NVIDIA GEFORCE SKUs toward the end of Q2, 2012. TSMC in the past have given other companies priority, such as when Qualcomm threatened to switch allocations to other foundries.
I will work off the assumption that all of my readers are on the up and up and don't pirate music and videos. Yes, I have high standards for my readers, but it's for the best. Since none of us pirate music or movies, it always annoys me to see the anti-piracy fear campaign before the start of a movie. Apparently it wasn't enough, though, because two new propaganda slides are being added.
The one above is the traditional fear-based warning. It offers the standard "you could be fined or go to jail if you download this movie illegally" routine. Of course, a $250,000 fine and 5 years in jail is a bit excessive and scary, but at the same time, I don't pirate, so I don't want to see the warning! This one has been brought to you courtesy of the FBI and the HSI.
It reads "The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by federal law enforcement agencies and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000."
This propaganda showing is a less standard, yet still traditional, showing. It claims that pirating hurts the economy and that it is not a victimless crime. It encourages viewers to set aside their movie and go to http://www.iprcenter.gov to learn more. "Piracy is not a victimless crime. For more information on how digital theft harms the economy, please visit http://www.iprcenter.gov."
StumbleUpon co-founder and CEO, Garrett Camp, has stepped down from his position and will become chairman of the company. Camp, who after 10 years of leading StumbleUpon, wants change. He explained that it's "time for a change" in a post on StumbleUpon's blog:
After 10 years leading StumbleUpon, it's time for a change. From Geoff and I working part-time in Canada in 2002 to over 120 talented employees today, I've guided StumbleUpon through an unconventional journey. We moved to San Francisco in 2006 (photo above), were acquired by eBay just a year later, spun ourselves out of eBay in 2009, and have since grown the company from 5 million to more than 25 million registered users. The last 3 years have been incredible - completely rebuilding the company and expanding from a simple Firefox add-on to one of the largest discovery platforms on the Web.
StumbleUpon is now seeking a new CEO, immediately. The rest of its executive staff will continue as is. The next thing to see is who StumbleUpon, well, stumble upon for their next CEO, as well as what Camp has up his sleeve as to his next move.
After the successful conclusion of a pilot program which studied the effect of tablet computers in government, all 650 members of the British parliament (MP) will soon receive Apple's tablet masterpiece, the iPad.
The roll out of iPads to MPs will cost anywhere between $420,300 and $693,500. Nearly 70 MPs have already bought an iPad and have listed them as an expense, putting the cost onto the tax payer. But there are benefits, they say: such as saving money on printing, and other business/workflow-related reasons.
Each MP and his or her staff are entitled to three desktop computers, and two laptops in the service of the government. A trade-in of one of the allotted devices is expected from 300 of the 650 members not assigned to a select committee. The returned equipment helps for the cost of the iPad purchases by updating obsolete equipment in use by non-elected staffers, which then reduces the need for purchases of new equipment, which would cost a little over $80,000.
EA believes consoles still have potential, promises $80 million in investment for next-gen console game development
In EA's earning call, it was made clear that the company intends to compete in the next-gen console market and is planning to invest $80 million in next-gen game consoles. This $80 million is only over the fiscal year 2013, so likely most of this money will go towards WiiU games as the WiiU is rumored to release around Christmas this year.
"We intend to invest $80 million in gen-4 console development in fiscal 2013," said EA CEO John Riccitiello in his prepared remarks. "We are strong believers that console will return to strong growth, representing great opportunity, one that is in lockstep with our digital plan."
This commitment comes at a time when EA saw, and is predicting, a decline in packaged good sales. At the same time, however, they are expecting to see an increase of 40% in digital revenue for the year. Of course, $80 million wouldn't even cover the development costs of one top AAA title, so it's unclear exactly how many titles will be coming from this investment.
In what I can only call a hilarious turn of events, two of Romania's most renowned fortune-tellers have been accused of using Google, rather than the spirits, to con clients into doing some outlandish things and forking over cash for the services. One client was encouraged to throw her money into a lake to rid herself of her troubles.
With the internet around, it's so much easier for people to collect information on other people. As such, it was just a matter of time before a fortune-teller put it to use. The fortune-tellers are accused of using their Wi-Fi connections to Google clients and their loved ones. I guess that sort of counts, since after all, Wi-Fi is kind of magical.
But, their misdeeds didn't stop there. According to the allegations, the fortune-tellers trawled their clients' social networks and even used electronic surveillance equipment on those who would pay large sums of money. In a bit of irony, these fortune-tellers couldn't foresee their future in that the prosecutor they tried to bribe was also under electronic surveillance.


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- November 15, 2018
In May, Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Secretary Alex Azar called on pharma companies to voluntarily add drug prices to ads. “Be honest about what you’re trying to charge us, and put your list prices in your ads,” Azar said during a speech outlining details about the bigger plan, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Then, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said his Agency is already working on ways to implement the price-tag policy — and clear any legal hurdles that might be in its way. One of those legal issues is the risk that requiring price disclosures would be unconstitutional “compelled speech,” Gottlieb said at a forum in Washington D.C., according to FierceHealthcare.
Another problem outside the legal sphere: What price to disclose. Gottlieb acknowledged that a drug’s list price may not be the best number to use — given the discounts and rebates payers extract — however, said the Agency could find “better proxies.”
Industry sentiment among marketing pros ranged from (many) no comments to a series of “uns”—uncertain, unhelpful, unfeasible. While slapping prices into ads might seem to be a move toward transparency, an arbitrary sticker number does not clear up a very murky and complicated drug-pricing picture. “Mandating the disclosure of medicine list prices in Direct to Consumer (DTC) ads would provide no meaningful benefit to patients given the significant negotiations occurring in the marketplace,” PhRMA wrote in a statement to FiercePharma.
The number would not enlighten consumers about their own bills, the trade group said. “List prices are not the prices that insurers actually pay and are often not a good indicator of what the consumer will pay at the pharmacy counter since their insurer may charge a flat copayment or coinsurance,” the statements said. “Price comparison websites already exist to help consumers compare and look for the best retail prices, the price the consumer actually pays for their medicines at their pharmacy.”
Peter Weissberg, Vice President of Market Access at Intouch Solutions, called the idea “potentially well-intentioned,” but said he does not think it will work. “Not only is it not practical, I don’t think it would actually drive much value to the system,” Weissberg said. “We’ve already seen from having to include fair balance in TV ads that just including information doesn’t make it valuable to consumers.”
A single number — list price or otherwise — would not show consumers the calculus behind that price, demonstrate the drug’s real clinical value or explain how some groups of patients could end up paying less. That sort of detail would likely require a sort of new “fair balance” laundry list about pricing, similar to the side effects disclosures that already pad every drug commercial. And that, in turn, could push pharma TV ads past the two-minute mark and confuse consumers even more.
Craig Martin, Global Principal with Ogilvy Red, said, “You have to be realistic about how much information you can convey in a 30- or 60-second ad, especially because the ad is already crowded with disclaimers. The issue of drug pricing doesn’t lend itself all that well to putting a sticker on an ad.” He added, “It doesn’t seem like something that will bring greater transparency around how drug pricing is done—it will only put a price tag on something without any context to go with it.”
And then there’s the legality of requiring pricing in ads, as Gottlieb noted. An FDA working group assigned to the price-tag idea will investigate that possible sticking point.
Credit Suisse analyst Vamil Divan, M.D., was skeptical that this sort of disclosure would have any effect on drug prices and noted that FDA might not have the power to require it anyway. “It is not clear to us what the FDA can mandate on its own without Congressional action or how much this would impact how pharma companies price their drugs,” Divan noted, “without broader changes to [a] drug pricing system that significantly incentivize[s] pharma companies and other members of the pharma supply chain to maximize list prices.”
Ultimately, the complicated drug-pricing system is a bigger issue. One change, one single transparency move, probably will not be effective. Sunlight on the whole pricing chain, manufacturer to consumer? Maybe.
Weissberg said, “If the goal is you want to have price transparency, I think that’s a wonderful pilot program. Let’s have a market-based fully transparent system. Let’s take a look at it.”
REFERENCE: Fierce Pharma; 16 MAY 2018; Beth Snyder Bulik

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Intel bought a 15% stake of digital mapping service HERE earlier this week. The chipmaker will be joining Audi, BMW, and Daimler in their quest for fully automated electric vehicles.
HERE. HERE provides a navigation app similar to Google Maps. It uses its data for relevant technology, including IoT (Internet of Things) services and automotive applications.
The transaction will officially close sometime during the first quarter of the year. Intel's Doug Davis, the head of its automated driving group, will then join HERE's Supervisory Board.
Jaguar Cars has incorporated the company's technology for their 2016 XF and XJ models. The company provided drive guidance for the sportscars' in-car infotainment systems. HERE MapCar has also been utilized by Volvo, Hyundai, Mazda, Mitsubishi, and 20 other car manufacturers.
Nokia sold the company in 2015 to Audi, BMW, and Daimler for $3 billion. Most recently NavInfo, Tencent, and GIC jointly bought a 10% stake in the digital mapping service.
Intel + HERE. The Santa Clara corporation and HERE plan to develop navigation tech that can pinpoint a car's location within centimeters. This is necessary for precise positioning and safety for fully autonomous EVs.
HERE will provide the mapping service and the Santa Clara-based chip manufacturer will provide the chip. The chip manufacturer is known for making cutting edge computer chipsets. Its i7 series is the best in its class. Surely, the Santa Clara-based chip manufacturer has the engineering and know-how to develop electronic works of art. But will the chipmaker eventually develop its own self driving car? That has yet to be seen.
What About Tesla? Tesla has been celebrated as one of the leading EV car manufacturers. Its Model S is the first premium electric sedan in the world. Most recently, the Silicon Valley company has been hard at work with designing fully automated self-driving electric vehicles.
The automaker has already announced that it will be able to make its fully automated self-driving electric vehicle by 2018. Mobileye has recently criticized Tesla for sacrificing safety in order to get ahead of the race.
2017 marks the official start of the fully automated self-driving EV race. The main contenders are Tesla, Uber, Google Waymo, Lucid Motors, and Toyota. Audi, BMW, Daimler, and Intel have now joined the frontrunners. Who will win the race?


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Sustainable Food Company Discovers Ingredients for Success
What if you could turn byproducts left at food manufacturing facilities into nutritious products people can eat? That’s the goal of Renewal Mill, co-founded in 2015 by Claire Schlemme (FES '11).
"Much of these fiber byproducts produced at scale are really just ingredient streams we haven't found to be useful yet," Schlemme says. "Since all this energy has gone into producing food, it makes sense to capture the nutrition and make sure it stays in the food supply chain."
Renewal Mill has focused on byproducts of legume processing and the pulp left behind in the production of non-dairy milks. The company’s first two partnerships are in place, providing the ingredients for its first two products. Two months ago, the company brought okara to market: the soybean pulp left from soymilk.
Renewal Mill's model uses onsite technology located at the facilities that produce byproduct, so it can be processed, dried and dealt with in a food-safe manner. The company's optimized onsite process, Schlemme explains, eliminates the expensive and unhygienic need to transport the wet, heavy byproduct to a different location. "This adds an extra step for the food manufacturers but gives them an additional food ingredient that we purchase from them — the dried okara — which we then turn into a high-protein, high-fiber flour.
"The volume of food waste is immense, and we want to maximize the uses for these ingredients in food by selling them to food manufacturers," Schlemme says, adding that she hopes to change the traditional ingredient formulations of food manufacturers by alerting them to the functional benefits of Renewal Mill's sustainable alternatives. "In the US,” she notes, “when we process food we tend to strip away the fiber, which is the best part."
Schlemme cites some staggering US-specific statistics: 40% of the food that is produced never gets eaten, and 1 in 7 American households is considered food insecure. "That is the drive behind what we're doing," she says.
Renewal Mill began four years after Schlemme graduated from the School of Forestry and Environmental Sciences in 2011. Her co-founder, Sumit Kadakia, graduated from the School of Management and FES joint degree program in 2016. Schlemme and her co-founder started a diversity-centered speaker series at FES and welcomed Minh Tsai, who owns the nation's largest artisanal tofu factory. "That was the seed for realizing what an opportunity byproducts were," Schlemme says. After she worked on the project for a few months, Renewal Mills' progress was catalyzed by winning the Sabin Sustainable Venture Prize in 2016, awarded to student and faculty efforts to start a sustainable for-profit business. With $25,000 in initial capital and entrance into the then-Yale Entrepreneurial Institute's summer fellowship program (which brought the company an additional stipend), Schlemme and her co-founder began spending more time at the tofu factories to develop a manufacturing pipeline. "It was phenomenal, particularly because our company was brand new, and we won Sabin with just an idea rather than a venture at that point," she says. "Our summer at YEI was really about getting from the idea to a business."
Schlemme highlights the complexities of operating Renewal Mill related to the nature of working with perishable food byproducts. "We're building a bridge between manufacturers and end consumers using the byproduct, whether that's a food company or retail customer," she says. The company has two customers: the manufacturers providing the supply and individuals who purchase the food products made by Renewal Mill. "It's easy in the sense that our needs are being met on both sides, but matching the supply with demand is where it gets tricky," Schlemme explains. Food producers are excited by the innovative solution and customers are responding well to Renewal Mill's food products, but the all-or-nothing nature of working with byproducts creates challenges for the company. "It would be easier if we could scale up linearly, but with the byproduct we essentially have an on/off switch: we either have a small amount or are processing all of it," Schlemme says. "It's a gigantic approach, which is harder to match in terms of sales."
Despite citing her "big picture goal" of becoming a sustainable ingredient company, Schlemme has also tapped into the direct-to-consumer retail market. Renewal Mill released its first product, the Okara Chocolate Chip Cookie, a few months ago. The high-fiber, plant-based chocolate chip cookie, baked with Okara flour, has been available in retail locations and corporate offices in the Bay Area, and Schlemme hopes the sales of this product will inform her future manufacturing decisions. "Because Okara is an unknown ingredient to Western audiences despite being well known in East Asia, part of the job is being able to demonstrate demand and generate buzz around the product, which will help leverage the sales to food manufacturers," she says. "We're planning to always have a B2C component to the business to build a regional retail brand, but the bulk of the business will be B2B."
The company is currently working on its second byproduct from yellow pea production, and Schlemme is looking to expand the Renewal Mill team. She and her co-founder are working full time on the venture. In terms of fundraising, Schlemme explains the hybrid nature of the company as a challenge to convincing investors. "We're not a traditional CPG, but not strictly a technology company," she says, describing Renewal Mill as the food company of the future. "Sitting in between these worlds makes it harder for people to understand what we're about, since we don't fit into a traditional mold." Nevertheless, the company will soon be closing a $1 million seed round with funding from angel investors. Until now, Renewal Mill has been funded by grants from Yale as well as the Closed Loop Foundation. For Schlemme, the most important thing is to find mentors and advisors who "think about us as social entrepreneurs" and provide advice as well as financial support.
Veena McCoole is the YaleWomen Innovation Fellow at Tsai CITY.


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If you like sharing details from your everyday life on social media, then you’ll like Instagram’s new feature. Similar to Spotify, IG has teamed up with Netflix to let you post what you’re currently watching on the mobile app.
All you have to do is click the share option and pick Instagram Stories. It will redirect you to the IG app where you can fix the layout before posting.
So far this is only available for iOS but it will be rolled out to Android devices in the future.


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They are new in the industry, but can give the seasoned models a run for their money.
Every year many aspiring models hope to shine under the spotlight on the ramp. However, there are few who finally make the cut.
Presenting 7 models who stole the spotlight in 2017 -- some walked the ramp for the first time, others waltzed their way into the limelight, rubbing shoulder with supermodels at prestigious fashion weeks.
Take a look!
Photograph: Kind courtesy Kaia Gerber/Instagram
Supermodel Cindy Crawford's 16-year-old daughter Kaia Gerber made her runway debut in 2017. She strode the ramp at Raf Simons' collection for Calvin Klein.
Kaia also walked for Alexander Wang and is the face of Marc Jacobs' beauty line.
Photograph: Kind courtesy Roosmarijn de Kok/Instagram
A 22-year-old model from the Netherlands, Roosemarijn de Kok made her Victoria's Secret Fashion show debut this year.
But the model is very popular on Instagram with 2,30,000 followers.
During the VS show, she was known as the angel with the dark past -- she was once arrested for stealing a bottle of fish oil and chocolates from a supermarket.
Photograph: Kind courtesy Estelle Chen/Instagram
19-year-old Chinese model Estelle Chen was born and raised in Paris. She was the first-ever model of Chinese origin to walk the ramp at this year's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
Estelle started working as a model when she was just 14 and hopes to feature someday on the cover of Vogue Paris or Vogue China.
Photograph: Kind courtesy Alexina Graham/Instagram
Alexina Graham is part of the L'Oreal family and is currently being managed by Elite Models.
She began her modelling career in United Kingdom and is currently the global brand ambassador of L'Oreal.
Photograph: Kind courtesy Mira Lenko/Instagram
Currently residing in New York, this 20-year-old from Ukraine, Mira Lenko is a qualified accountant who made her debut at the New York Fashion Week this year.
When quizzed in an interview about why she didn't pursue a career in accountancy, Mira said, 'It's hard for me to imagine myself sitting in front of the computer, generating reports for a company.'
Photograph: Kind courtesy Somalia Knight/Instagram
Somalia Knight was discovered in a bus, when she was on vacation. Since then there's been no looking back for this 24-year-old model, who is from Florida.
She made her debut this year at New York Fashion Week and is a huge inspiration for fans for embracing her flaws -- she's got big ears that stand out.
Photograph: Kind courtesy Aiden Curtiss/Instagram
She's fashion legend Katoucha Niane's daughter. Aiden Curtiss got her big break this year when she was chosen to walk the runway at Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
Modelling runs in her genes, but one will have to wait and watch how famous this one gets.
Photograph: Kind courtesy Kiyara/Instagram
Kiyara's two-year contract with IMG Models states that she has representation in Paris, Milan, New York, London and Sydney.This 18-year-old is from the small town of Sangaria in Rajashthan.
She won the Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2017 auditions and also the coveted global contract with IMG Models -- the agency that manages supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid and Miranda Kerr.


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Queenslanders with solar panels on their roofs could soon be charged for the energy they produce.
The scheme would see these households sell all of their energy to the grid and then buy it back at a more expensive retail rate.
Currently the feed-in tariff allows households to use what energy they generate and sell the excess energy back to the grid.
The current feed-in tariff works as a generous incentive for Queenslanders to take up solar power and begin generating their own electricity.
Clean Energy Council Policy Director Russell Marsh says the QCA’s proposed scheme would “rob” households of the chance to save money by generating their own power.
“The scheme would see households sell their electricity to the grid for eight cents per kilowatt hour and buy it back at anywhere between 17 and 35 cents,” said Mr Marsh.
QCA Chairman Brian Parmenter said the scheme is just one of many changes to be considered after public consultation.
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The QCA’s draft report is due in late November, with the final report to be released in March 2013.


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Cloud-based service provider, GK Horizons, has been awarded the 2014 Asia-Pacific partner of the region title by Cloud performance management and business intelligence company, Adaptive Insights.
The company was given the award at Adaptive Insights’ recent annual worldwide partner summit, which was held in Texas. The awards aim to recognise the achievements by Adaptive partners around the world in a variety of categories.
GK Horizons nabbed the award as Adaptive Insights claimed it’s the only partner in the Asia-Pacific region that focusses solely on the Adaptive Insights suite of products and helps companies streamline budgeting, forecasting and financial planning.
“With partners such as GK Horizons supporting us, we are empowering customers to make strategic decisions that accelerate growth, improve performance and ultimately drive success,”Adaptive Insights international sales and global channels senior vice-president, Carolee Gearhart, said.
According to GK Horizons, this exclusive partnership, along with its experience and knowledge enables the company to assist companies of all industry sectors and all sizes improve their finance processes.
“We are honoured to have won this year, it provides us with further motivation to attract and help more customers. We initially partnered with Adaptive because we knew customers would love it. We have been proved right in this regard time-and-time again,” GK Horizons business development director, Matthew Grove, claimed.


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AO.com has delivered a strong rise in sales across both the UK and Germany as boss John Roberts says accelerated online sales amid Covid-19 have ‘emphasised our strengths’.
The electricals etailer said its UK sales in the six months to September 30 were up approximately 54%, while sales across its German division surged approximately 83% on a constant currency basis.
The online retailer pointed to continued sales momentum across its UK business in the second quarter despite the reopening of stores as an indication of “a lasting step change in online penetration”.
Chief executive and founder John Roberts said the business was in a strong financial position before the pandemic and that “the global, structural shift in customer behaviour to online, accelerated by Covid, emphasised our strengths”.
AO said increased investment in its infrastructure and teams and costs incurred from operational challenges during the pandemic have been offset “by less competition in some marketing channels and additional delivery income as we have managed demand”.
The etailer said its German business is on track to achieve profitability on a monthly EBITDA basis over peak.
Against this backdrop, Roberts is confident of a strong performance over Black Friday and Christmas.
“Whilst we remain mindful of the uncertain economic climate caused by the pandemic and Brexit, we are on track with plans and well set for our biggest ever peak trading period in the UK and Germany,” he said.


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Microsoft is set to acquire Call of Duty’s publisher Activision Blizzard for a whopping $70 billion, so how much money does Warzone bring in?
It’s no secret that Warzone is a money-making machine for publisher Activision Blizzard (soon to be Microsoft). Free-to-play battle royale games have remained as popular as ever, and Call of Duty: Warzone is one of the biggest there is.
Microsoft announced that they’re set to buy Activision Blizzard for almost $70 billion which begs the question, just how much money does Call of Duty: Warzone make?
How much money has Warzone made?
There’s no way of knowing how much money Warzone has made overall, but it’s reportedly somewhere in the region of $4 billion across 2020 and 2021.
- Read more: Warzone hackers bring flying cars to Caldera
SuperData, a now-shutdown game market intelligence company, reported that Warzone and Modern Warfare made around $1.93 billion in 2020, and NetBet estimates that Warzone makes around $1.9 billion a year. This puts Warzone’s total earnings across 2020 and 2021 at around $4 billion US Dollars.
Fortnite reportedly makes Epic Games a similar amount, bringing in around $1.8 billion a year, and $4.9 million a day.
How much money does Warzone make in a day?
NetBet breaks down Warzone’s earnings even further, reporting that Warzone makes Activision $5.2 million a day, which is over $3,600 a minute.
- Read more: How to stop freezing at Warzone Buy Stations
Social media can give the impression that Warzone is “dying” because of its numerous bugs and glitches, but the numbers tell a completely different story. Players are still purchasing a ton of CoD Points and cosmetic bundles, earning Activision around $60 a second.
Image Credit: Activision
FIFA 23 Ones to Watch: OTW promo explained & every confirmed player so far
FIFA 23 Ones to Watch is set to be the first major promo of FUT 23, so here's everything we...
Warzone devs deliver “Eagle Child” Calling Card in honor of viral Reddit post
Raven Software decided to honor a viral Reddit post with a unique Calling Card available in Warzone Season 5 Reloaded.
Modern Warfare & Cold War guns return as ground loot in Warzone Season 5 Reloaded
Modern Warfare and Black Ops Cold War weapons will be returning to ground loot in Warzone Pacific Season 5 Reloaded.


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New Delhi, 19th December 2022: Today (December 19), Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and pledged his support for creating a free and open internet that benefits everyone.
Pichai tweeted, “Thank you for a great meeting today PM Narendra Modi. Inspiring to see the rapid pace of technological change under your leadership. Look forward to continuing our strong partnership and supporting India’s G20 presidency to advance an open, connected internet that works for all.”
Pichai is there to take part in the “Google for India” conference, where the business will be emphasising start-ups. Google will invest around a quarter of the $300 million it set aside for startups in companies run by women.
He said, “Given the size and technological leadership it (India) will have, it’s crucial to strike a balance and implement protections for people. You’re developing a foundation for innovation so that businesses can do so on top of legal certainty.”
He added, “It seems like a crucial point in history. India will have significant export potential. Free and connected internet will be beneficial to it, so finding the proper balance will be crucial.”
200 meetings could be held in India during the upcoming year. Delhi will host the G20 Summit in September 2023.


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The EU’s Economic and Monetary Affairs committee has approved a draft rulebook for the planned pan-European personal pension product (PEPP), including consumer protection and sustainable investment requirements.
Although the European Parliament still has to vote on the rules, this would be a formality, according to Sophie in ‘t Veld, Dutch MEP for the Liberal Democrats in Europe and the lead on the PEPP – known as the “rapporteur”.
The PEPP is the envisaged third-pillar product designed to be offered under the same rules across the European Union.
Speaking to IPE’s Dutch sister publication Pensioen Pro, In ‘t Veld said that the European Parliament had tried to tighten the product’s specifications, improve consumer protections, and set clearer rules for information provision.
“This is contrary to member states, who chiefly think from the perspective of their local institutions,” she said.
She indicated that in the Parliament’s final draft of the regulation, consumers would be allowed to lodge complaints at their local supervisor, based on a clear and detailed procedure.
A basic PEPP model has been fleshed out, comprising requirements for safer investments and additional conditions for the decumulation phase.
The regulation also included rules for sustainable investment, stipulating that PEPPs ought to invest in line with the targets of the Paris Agreement as well as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
EU member states in the European Council agreed their approach to PEPP regulation in June. The Council and Parliament will soon begin discussing how to combine the two for the final rules.
In ‘t Veld emphasised that consumer protection was an important aspect of the rules, as was the role of European supervisor EIOPA for offering access to the PEPP market.
“The member states wanted their local regulators play this role, rather than EIOPA as the European Commission had suggested,” In ‘t Veld said. “However, we do both. The local watchdog will carry out the initial validation of an application, before EIOPA can pass judgement with respect to the content.”
She argued that EIOPA’s involvement was necessary to ensure the quality of all PEPPs.
“We know that there are differences between a local supervisors,” she explained.
The fiscal treatment of the PEPP remained a difficult issue, the rapporteur said, as this was still under the control of individual member states.
Parliament gave member states two options in its PEPP rules: either give the PEPP the same rights as local products, or develop a special European-wide fiscal regime for PEPPs.
However, Europe lacked the means of forcing member states to support such a move. In ‘t Veld said: “If providers want this, they must lobby their local governments.”
The European Commission has previously estimated that the EU market for personal pensions could hit €2.1trn in assets by 2030 if the PEPP was successful.


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From Gigafactory to the Farm: Solar-powered robotics company founded by engineering and business leadership from Tesla and MIT
Before drivers can start looking into the future, they need to take a look at the promises that automotive manufacturers and governments are making in regards to electric vehicle adoption and moving toward a zero-emission future.
Two factors of the vehicle's operation are related to these new gear packs for electric cars-efficiency, or 'rangeability,' and gear noise. To appeal to consumers, electric vehicles will need to reach similar mileage as their internal combustion counterparts.
With sales of electric vehicles (EVs) already rising by 144 per cent in 2019, the popularity of EVs will only continue to increase ― but they haven't always been racing ahead.
The demand for lithium batteries is expected to grow tenfold by 2030. However, the U.S. will produce only 14% of the world's lithium-ion batteries by 2021. These batteries are needed to make electric cars.
The Prime Minister has labelled his ten-point action plan, which includes investment in sustainable energy and bettered public transport, a 'green industrial revolution'.
Battery electric cars catered for 4.7 per cent of all new car sales in July, something industry experts expect to continue well into the remainder of 2020.
There have been debates regarding the pollution caused during the manufacturing of batteries for Electric Vehicles. For instance, some studies seem to suggest that the life-cycle emissions (including battery manufacturing) of an electric vehicle barely helps in reducing carbon emissions.
Spanning a planned area of 3,000 acres (2 million square metres), it has five cutting-edge workshops including stamping, welding, painting, final assembly, and battery pack production.
Coupled with StarPower's power module technology, the use of Cree's silicon carbide-based MOSFET in the powertrain will help extend driving range while lowering weight and conserving space.
In 2019, the Mitsubishi Outlander proved to be the top electric vehicle by fleet size (41,265) The fact that this SUV had out-sold smaller, more traditional electric vehicles, such as the Nissan Leaf, proves the impressive rise of the electric SUV.
EVs stepped on the gas in 2019. With the demand curve hitting no breaks, the battery electric vehicle market is likely to be reaching its tipping point by 2022.
According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global electric vehicle market is expected to reach $567.29 billion by 2025. Following are some of the activities taking place across the world.
OEMs are in need of an industry-standard EV battery to meet the expected demand, support a competitive marketplace, maintain energy affordability, and preserve the reliability of the electric grid.
Visionary automotive company Neuron EV has recently unveiled the Neuron EV TORQ, the firm's electric semi-truck that sets new standards in clean energy vehicles.
Records 1 to 15 of 45
Our RE Series batteries are designed to provide the highest peak capacity, longest cycle life, and greatest reliability for use in industrial or residential renewable energy applications. Renewable Energy Series batteries utilize the company's exclusive XC2™ formulation and Diamond Plate Technology® to create the industry's most efficient battery plates, delivering greater watt-hours per liter and watt-hours per kilogram than any other flooded lead-acid battery in the market. Our Deep Cycle batteries are engineered to work with solar panels as well as other renewable energy applications.


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Protein arrays may still be on the fringe of the microarray world in terms of marketing power, but they managed to generate plenty of excitement at the annual Chips to Hits conference held last week in Boston. This week ProteoMonitor caught up with five companies that presented on various kinds of protein arrays at the meeting to see what they’ve been up to, where they’re going next, and what they make of the protein array market.
Zyomyx, which announced a deal this week with the National Eye Institute for the use of its recently released Protein Profiling Biochip System in the study of ocular disease, has gone through a “tremendous change” since the February launch of the profiling system, said Peter Wagner, Zyomyx’ chief techno-logy officer. The Hayward, Calif., company, he said, has gone from a five-year-long R&D phase to a full-fledged marketing drive.
“This is what we have been building over the last four or five years with $90 million, and now what we’re doing this year is building a commercial setting,” Wagner said, explaining that this new setting would include the “ramping up of manufacturing, sales, and support teams.”
Zyomyx’ focus, Wagner said, is on marketing its products to pharma companies that are working in the expression profiling market and “want [them] ready to use out of the box.” That suite of products will include validated traditional antibody arrays with accompanying reagents and accessories for doing quantitation studies.
The company has so far released only one content-bearing chip on the market — a human 30-cytokine array — but Wagner said that Zyomyx will now begin releasing three to four new chips a year. “The idea is to have a substantial number of chips out there within the next 24 months. We’ve already started and will intensify next year,” he said. The next chip to come out of the pipeline will be a mouse cytokine chip, set for release in the first quarter of 2004. The company also has plans to release a chip with 100 human cytokines, as well as a signal transduction array and a whole “information suite” of chips with functional subsets, such as a growth factor chip (see PM 4-7-03).
While Zyomyx is launching these products at full speed, Wagner said he believed the protein array market would not take off until pharma accepts arrays as an important part of the drug discovery process. “The field is going from a process of early-stage curiosity into delivering solutions. You really only get [this] when you deliver to pharma and they start running clinical samples and realize the power of multiplexing,” he said. The lengthy, tedious, and costly process of validating even a 30-antibody array for quantitative analysis was a limiting factor, Wagner noted.
Schleicher & Schuell BioScience
Michael Harvey, vice president of R&D at S&S, said that the Keene, NH-based company would be releasing an anti-cytokine array called Fast Quant — containing nine interleukins associated with the Th1-Th2 immune response — that would allow for the quantitation of the cytokines present in a given sample. The product will launch in the first quarter of 2004, and will have as its base a nitrocellulose-coated slide called a Fast Slide, which S&S markets for both DNA and protein arrays, although Harvey said the slide was particularly valuable for protein arrays. The company has been focusing primar-ily on making the slides more quantitative and reproducible for use with all types of protein arrays.
Harvey said that a major obstacle to the growth of the protein array market was content — that is, “deciding which collection of specificities people really need so they can take advantage of multiplexing.” He said that Protometrix’ plans for proteome chips (see below) would help to solve that problem. The sheer breadth of potential applications for protein arrays, when compared with the more straightforward use for DNA arrays, was also slowing the market down, he said, because it “takes time to solve some of the problems that are associated with all the different applications.”
Markus Ehrat, CEO of Zeptosens, said that the Witterswil, Switzerland-based biochip company had just sold the first system that incorporates its recently launched reverse protein array. So-called reverse arrays, also being developed by Emanuel Petricoin at the FDA-NCI, immobilize the sample on the array — rather than immobilizing a set of antibodies, as is the case with conventional capture arrays. “The advantage is, if you’re interested in only 10 or 20 proteins to detect, but you have many samples, you can have multiplexing of sample and not of the protein. … Also, you have only one antibody so you don’t have too much problem with cross reactivity,” Ehrat said.
Ehrat also said that Zeptosens, which launched a DNA array based on a light propogation system called planar waveguide technology last summer (see BioArray News, 8-2-02), had adapted the high-sensitivity array system for proteins and had “just started” commercializing it.
According to Ehrat, the biggest difficulty in the expansion of the protein array market — in addition to the need to improve upon precision, sensitivity and reproducibility — was “convincing people that these protein microarrays really can provide good information.” This is no small task, Ehrat said, because protein scientists were used to a higher level of precision in their work than DNA scientists were, and “in multiplexing, they are afraid to lose this precision,” he said.
Protometrix, which was spun out two years ago based on work done at Michael Snyder’s lab at Yale (see PM 1-28-02, 4-7-03), this month began selling its yeast proteome chip, which contains 4,500 yeast proteins spotted in duplicate on one array, according to Hollis Kleinert, the CEO, and Paul Predki, the vice president for R&D. The Branford, Conn.-based company is in the “final stages” of a deal with a distributor that will do the majority of the marketing for the yeast array beginning in 2004, according to Predki. Shortly after the distributor begins selling the yeast chips, the company will begin releasing a series of sub-proteome chips for human proteins followed by chips for mice, rats, dogs, and other common model systems. “All of the key animal models that are used routinely in drug safety and efficacy-testing in pharma companies will be sub-proteomes or full proteomes that we will address,” Kleinert said.
Rather than attempting to build a whole proteome array for humans, Predki said that the company would build several sub-proteome arrays categorized according to function (such as an apoptosis array); localization in the body (such as a liver array); localization in the cell (such as a membrane array); or family (such as a kinase array). Predki added that the company currently has several thousand human proteins in stock, and that various sub-proteome chip possibilities are being tested in collaborations, at beta test sites, and in-house. Protometrix is also already “actively working on” custom arrays for particular clients, for which it will both draw from its current stock of human proteins as well as generate new content, according to Predki.
Also, the company “made an unexpected discovery” in the spring, Predki said, that led to current efforts to market arrays for the multiplexed measurement of enzymatic activity using proteins arranged in a similar format to the proteome arrays. These “activity arrays” are set to be commercialized soon as well, Predki said, noting that potential commercial value was in the area of drug discovery.
While acknowledging that there was still some resistance on the part of researchers to the concept of protein arrays, Predki took the unusual stance of suggesting that the expansion of the protein array market would be a faster and easier process than it was for DNA arrays. “We’re in a much easier situation, because a lot of the work has been done for us already,” Predki said. He noted that unlike Zyomyx, Protometrix is purposely marketing arrays with “open platforms:” Rather than selling a whole system for reading and analyzing the array, users could use DNA array-type scanners or other common labora-tory readers to read the protein arrays. Also, Predki said, users were now “conditioned” by DNA arrays to think about experiments on a multiplexed scale, so acceptance of the new technology would come more easily and quickly than it did for DNA arrays.
PerkinElmer — which launched an array analysis software tack-on to its ProteinArray workstation at Chips to Hits — has “active research going on in-house for the development of [content] arrays,” said Sandra Rasmussen, PerkinElmer’s business unit leader for proteomics and array systems. Rasmussen wouldn’t say when such arrays might reach the market, but said the company was working both on determining what type of content to put on the arrays — antibodies versus cellular proteins, for example — as well as how to put the content down so that it is stable and sensitive. “We have a team recognizing that protein arrays are more difficult than DNA arrays,” Rasmussen said.
PerkinElmer licensed the ProteinArray workstation, which automates the process of making an array, from NextGen Sciences in March 2002 (see PM 3-18-02). The newly launched analysis software, which will ship in the fourth quarter of this year, uses a standardization curve based on cytokine proteins to convert signal intensity data from the array into concentration-based data for quantitation analysis. PerkinElmer also recently released Piezoarray, a non-contact array spotter (see PM 5-12-03).


text: LifestyleStyle Hillary Clinton's iconic pantsuit is now for sale Yes, for $30 you too can dress kind of like Hillary Clinton! Photo Credit: shop.hillaryclinton.com By MELISSA KRAVITZ May 26, 2015 12:12 PM Print Share fbShare Tweet Email Hillary Clinton's team just made the pantsuit joke to end (most) pantsuit jokes. Now available in the presidential candidate's online store: The Everyday Pantsuit Tee. For $30, anyone can now wear a t-shirt printed to look like one of Clinton's iconic pantsuits. The red shirt - not blue! - shirt is printed like a blazer, with a Hillary pin, buttons, pockets, a collar and beaded necklace featured on the American-made and union-printed tee. Pantsuit bottoms are not included but 'Pantsuit Up', printed on the back of the shirt, may just become HIllary's newest campaign slogan. By MELISSA KRAVITZ Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comments We're revamping our Comments section. Learn more and share your input.


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Following the path open by the city of Hangzhou in 2017, Beijing has recently opened its first online court dedicated specifically to handle Internet-related matters.
The new civil court will have jurisdiction over matters previously decided by an ordinary court of first instance: online shopping, personal data protection, copyrights, domains and service contracts for example.
The court, open 24 hours a day through its online platform, is a first instance court in the Chinese judicial order, and has jurisdiction on the territory of the city of Beijing only.
According to local authorities, the main aim is to provide an effective and swift judicial response to damages caused online, as internet-related matters are piling up in traditional courts (+24% this year compared to 2017).
In the country where more than 900 million people have daily access to the Internet, e-commerce is a major part of the economy. Local authorities, therefore, take the matter of online offenses head-on, and a third court will open later this year I the city of Guangzhou.
About IP Twins
With more than 15 years of acute expertise to fight counterfeit and a reinforced presence in Asia, IP Twins can help you better protect your brand online and in China. Please feel free to contact us for any request you might have.


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Inspiring the convenience community
Warburtons has launched a £2.4m marketing campaign with the aim of…
Premier Foods has released a brand new range of microwaveable ambient desserts.
Premier has introduced Cadbury Cherry Vanilla Mini Rolls, the fourth sku in the Cadbury Mini Rolls range.
The classic flavours are back by popular demand.
Coca-Cola European Partners is tapping into demand for flavour innovation.
Pladis has added two new flavours to its McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes range.
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Photos of the PlayStation 5 for developers have already appeared on the Internet. The console design is not final, but the developers have
Sony pulled ahead
A Twitter user wondered whyThe PlayStation 5 for developers has already appeared on the Internet, but the Xbox Scarlet “devkit” remains a secret? As The Verge editor Tom Warner explained, Microsoft hasn't sent out test versions of the new Xbox because the console isn't ready yet. The developers have not yet had time to work with Scarlet, which is why rumors have appeared on the Internet that the new Microsoft console lags behind the PlayStation 5 in performance.
“Almost no one has them [Scarlett “devkits”]no, and they are far from the final version. That's why there are rumors that they are not powerful enough and so on. Microsoft wants to surprise Sony this time,” Warner wrote.
The words of The Verge editor-in-chief begandiscuss on the ResetEra forum, where Kotaku editor Jason Schreier also visited. According to the journalist, Microsoft is unlikely to try to surprise Sony and, most likely, will once again fail to meet the deadlines. Even the developers are left in the dark and “frustrated” by the lack of information about the Xbox Scarlet.
"I'm not sure what the expression 'trying to surprise Sony' is.true here - common sense would suggest that, as with the Xbox One, Microsoft is simply behind schedule and running in a hurry - but I spoke to several third-party developers who said they were disappointed by the lack of information about Scarlet, especially compared to Prospero [PS5],” wrote Schreier.
What is known about PlayStation 5 and Xbox Scarlet
There is indeed more information about the PlayStation 5.The console will receive an 8-core AMD Ryzen processor based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture, and an AMD Radeon Navi video card will be responsible for the graphics. Sony says it will support ray tracing, but the main feature of this generation will be fast loading times. Judging by the latest news, the company is planning to use Samsung SSD. In addition, PlayStation 5 will receive backward compatibility with PS4 and support for the PlayStation VR VR headset.
In turn, Microsoft is not interestedin virtual reality and Xbox Scarlet is unlikely to get its own “helmet”. But the characteristics will be similar, and the console will receive a Zen 2 processor and a Navi graphics chip from AMD and a GDDR 6 SSD. According to Microsoft, with this filling, Project Scarlet will be able to “pull out” 120 FPS in games, 8K resolution, and ray tracing.</ p>
- “Black Friday” from Paradox Interactive: cult strategies and RPGs with discounts up to 60%
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Global IT cos expect Indian PC market to rebound in H2
While Intel and AMD are adopting multiple initiatives to target the first-time users and lower PC prices in the market, PC vendors such as Dell and Acer are looking at ways to grow the market by tapping the huge potential in government projects and growing consumer sentiments.
For starters, AMD has just rolled out a new entry-level processor in India priced at $35. ���With this, we have reduced the entry-level processor prices by nearly $5. This is part of our strategy to do whatever we can to grow the market. We also plan to grow our retail distribution network,��� AMD India VP (marketing and sales) Ramkumar Subramanian said.
According to AMD India, PC sales slid by nearly 10-15% in the first half of 2009. Arch rival Intel feels PC sales have bottomed out during the first half in India and the industry can now expect a sizeable recovery. Both the chip makers are working with OEM and trade partners to grow adoption of their latest platforms in this subdued market.
���While 2009 started with a lull in government purchases, there is now a healthy ICT tender pipeline. Enquires from the enterprise segment are also rising as they want to refresh their PC infrastructure to control costs. After all, the latest range of PCs significantly cut down power and operating costs,��� Intel South Asia director (marketing) Prakash Bagri told ET.
Intel expects newer form factors like ultra-slim notebooks will drive PC sales in the top-end of the market. The chip giant is also betting on its Atom processors to drive growth in value computing through netbooks and nettops. ���With Atom, we expect to create a range of devices for the first time users in India. We are also packing more features like WiMAX capabilities to increase its performance,��� said Mr Bagri.
PC vendor Acer is refreshing its product line big time in India. ���We plan to undertake a lot of ground level activity in the second half with the festivity season round the corner. The netbook is also gaining acceptance in India as the sub-Rs 20,000 price point is becoming a big draw,��� said Acer India chief marketing officer S Rajendran.
Dell India country general manager Sameer Garde said the company is also expanding its product portfolio and distribution channel to grow the business in second half. Hewlett-Packard (HP) is tapping the rural turf to drive growth in line with increasing broadband penetration. HP has adopted the FMCG approach in smaller markets and is setting up a service network before initiating actual sales.
A latest study by MAIT, the apex body of IT hardware firms, estimated the total PC sales in India dipped by 7% in 2008-09 but is likely to grow by 7% in 2009-10 with total sales expected to cross 7.3 million units.


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The number of hours streamed and watched across , and have dropped significantly over the last year, according to the latest Streamlabs and Stream Hatchet on the landscape of livestreaming. Between April and June, streamers on the three platforms were live for 273 million hours. That’s down 19.4 percent from Q2 2021 and 12 percent from the previous quarter.
Viewers tuned in to streams for 7.36 billion hours across the three platforms last quarter. That’s a drop of 18.1 percent year over year (viewership was at 8.99 billion hours in Q2 2021) and 8.4 percent from the previous quarter. The slowdown for all three platforms could be a case of people spending more time outside than they did last year for pandemic-related reasons.
Twitch is still by far the biggest player among the three platforms, with 76.7 percent of market share in terms of hours watched (5.64 billion) and 92.7 percent of hours streamed (204.2 million). Those figures dropped by 13.4 percent and 16 percent from Q2 2021. The number of unique channels streaming on the platform dropped by nearly 2 million to 9.6 million as well.
However, Twitch’s Just Chatting category continues to go from strength to strength. Hours watched there actually grew by 2.2 percent from the previous quarter, giving the category its highest ever viewership. The most-watched categories after that were (465 million hours) and (464 million).
YouTube Gaming viewership actually remained steady from the previous quarter, though it dropped 13.1 percent from Q2 2021 to 1.13 billion hours. The total hours streamed dropped by 9.6 percent year over year to 8.05 million.
Facebook Gaming suffered a bigger setback, per the report, despite Meta’s efforts to court creators. The number of hours watched fell by a whopping 51 percent from a year ago to 580 million. There was an even bigger drop in terms of hours streamed, from 20.8 million in Q2 2021 to 7.9 million last quarter — a decline of 62 percent.
Perhaps we’ll soon start seeing some of those numbers creep up again, though. With a recession looming, folks may spend more time indoors again, tuning back into streamers they enjoyed watching during the first 18 months or so after COVID-19 took hold.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.


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Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Societe Generale upgraded shares of Burberry Group plc to a hold rating and lifted their target price for the company from GBX 1,300 ($16.09) to GBX 1,505 ($18.63) in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank AG lifted their target price on shares of Burberry Group plc from GBX 1,350 ($16.71) to GBX 1,475 ($18.25) and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Group restated a hold rating and set a GBX 1,290 ($15.97) target price on shares of Burberry Group plc in a report on Thursday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a neutral rating and set a GBX 1,450 ($17.95) target price on shares of Burberry Group plc in a report on Wednesday, October 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas restated a neutral rating and set a GBX 1,460 ($18.07) target price on shares of Burberry Group plc in a report on Wednesday, October 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Burberry Group plc has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of GBX 1,393.48 ($17.25).
Shares of Burberry Group plc (LON:BRBY) traded up 2.13% during trading on Thursday, hitting GBX 1532.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,526,961 shares. The stock’s 50-day moving average is GBX 1,360.78 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 1,252.56. The firm’s market capitalization is GBX 6.77 billion. Burberry Group plc has a 52-week low of GBX 1,039.00 and a 52-week high of GBX 1,545.00.
In related news, insider Bailey,Christopher sold 18,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 1,352 ($16.73), for a total transaction of £253,500 ($313,737.62).
About Burberry Group plc
Burberry Group PLC is a United Kingdom-based manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer of luxury goods. The Company designs, produces and sells products under the Burberry brand. The Company’s product categories include women’s and men’s apparel and accessories and beauty. The Company owns distribution network consisting of: 497 directly operated stores and concessions, offline and burberry.com, a digital platform active in 11 languages, online.
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The Co-operative Credit Unions Association of Ghana (CUA), the umbrella body of more than 500 co-operative credit unions, has launched and is set to operate and manage its own multi-tenant digital payments platform, known as CUANet.
The formal launch of CUANet took place during the 20th Educational and Biennial Conference of CUA, which had as its theme “Five decades of sustainable credit unions development: new image, new direction”.
The CUANet project is in line with CUA’s vision to provide financial and technical products and services to its members. It is also aimed at promoting financial inclusion and electronic payments, by bringing convenient, secure, reliable and easily accessible banking services to the doorstep of its members.
Nana Kwasi Agyepong, Group CEO of CUA said, “The mobile banking platform which we have just launched is only the first phase of the CUANet project, and we are very excited about it because going forward, CUA’s mobile banking services are going to be at par with those offered only by the big multi-national banks.
“CUA has a strategic vision of leveraging technology for social change, and I’m pleased to say that CUANet is one big step in that direction.”
The CUANet platform is built around a digital service hub, which hosts each credit union as a tenant allowing each credit union to manage their own services, business rules and customer services on the platform. Additionally, for the second phase of the project, CUANet will be integrated to multiple merchants, remittance houses, billers, and banks in Ghana.
The service supports multi-channel access including USSD, kiosks and ATMs. It also supports NFC and QR scan-pay transactions. Built on a PCI/DSS certified infrastructure, Master/Visa/Gh Link card services will be soon added to the service bouquet as optional transaction channels.
Nana Kwame Agyemang-Duah Mensah, Head of IT at Digital Square, mentioned that his company has been working with the CUA management for over two years to get the CUANet project off the ground.
“This project is a highly flexible and scalable one. It was designed from scratch and developed based on the specific needs of the members of CUA. Our choice of PayNet Systems Pvt of India as our technology partner, was based on their high regard for security, service level guarantees, knowledge of collaborative financial services, and experience in launching similar services in Asia”, he said.
Speaking under the topic “Digital financial services in credit union sustainability”, Tushar Belwal, co-founder and CEO of PayNet Systems stated, “We would like to thank CUA and Digital Square for trusting us in delivering CUANet. PayNet is proud to have been a part of this project, and the entire team looks forward to playing a formidable role in the financial inclusion movement in West Africa being pioneered by the CUA leadership”.
GTBank, the 2017 and 2018 award winner of “Best Digital Banking: Ghana” – as per Capital Finance International of the UK’s award scheme – is the official partner bank of the CUANet project. Its core mandate is to facilitate all payments and settlements on the CUANet platform.


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Full article here. Nothing new here. Every smartphone is portfolio of in-house innovation, patents, third party apps and licensing of technology. iPhone & Android phone are no different.
RIM's New BlackBerry 10: The Patchwork Smartphone
By WILL CONNORS
When Research in Motion Ltd. RIMM +3.56% unveiled the prototype of its upcoming BlackBerry last month, two features stole the showa predictive touch-screen keyboard and a camera that takes a series of near-instantaneous images for the perfect shot.
But unlike with earlier BlackBerry models, RIM didn't design either toolit's licensing the technology from two different European developers. In fact, most of the device's critical features are a patchwork of hardware and software obtained quietly through about a dozen acquisitions and multiple licensing deals over the past two years.
RIM CEO Thorsten Heins holds up a prototype of the new BlackBerry.
The features include the device's interface, which allows a user to navigate through the phone's features, and the operating system itself.
Buying up or licensing the latest technological gizmo is nothing new in the arms race that has broken out among the world's top smartphone makers. Apple Inc. AAPL +1.53% bought the technology that powers its popular Siri voice-activation software. Other industry playersfrom Google Inc. GOOG +1.78% to Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE +0.59% regularly bolster their own devices and operating systems with deal making.
But RIM has taken the strategy farther than most big players, at a crucial time for a company that practically invented the smartphone and once held unrivaled dominance over the market.
It's also a big departure for RIM, which once prided itself on its in-house engineering. That all changed as the iPhone and other popular smartphones overtook the BlackBerry as the mobile device of choice, leading RIM to look for outside help.
Now RIM executives are racing to sew together all of these pieces in time for the device's launch expected this year. Converting to an entirely new operating system is an enormous task all by itself.
RIM also has to integrate the new technologiesand the many employeesof several smaller companies in globally distant offices while shedding jobs tied to older phone models. It must cut costs associated with those older BlackBerrys while maintaining the services for existing users.
The number of acquisitions going into this one product may make it especially challenging, said Maribel Lopez, principal analyst at Lopez Research, a San Francisco-based research firm. "It's almost too many things to integrate at the same time," she said.
New Chief Executive Thorsten Heins has promised the new phone by the end of the year. Amid crumbling market share in the U.S, falling BlackBerry sales around the world and a tanking stock price, RIM is essentially betting the company's future on the new device.
Mr. Heins is also weighing a broad range of strategic options for the company, and has hired investment banks to help sift through alternatives.
RIM's recent heavy reliance on acquisitions and licensing deals means that, on top of all that, he will need to seamlessly combine all these variously sourced technologies into what has to be a near-flawless launch.
RIM has revealed very little of what the phone will look like. Early in May, it handed out prototypes of the device, loaded with a working version of its operating system, to allow developers to start creating apps.
RIM said it's up to the task, and the resulting phonewhile using its own and acquired or licensed technologywill be "uniquely BlackBerry," according to a spokeswoman.
"We use a number of ingredients including our own unique inventions and designs to create the best user experience," the spokeswoman said in a statement.
RIM says the key to the new phone is its new operating system, called BlackBerry 10. It's a system based on technology it obtained in the 2010 acquisition of Ottawa-based QNX Software Systems Ltd. for about $200 million.
The system has powered nuclear power plants and medical devices, and RIM is already using it to run its PlayBook tablet. The company expects it will eventually power all of its mobile devices.
Meanwhile, the new phone's interfacethe system that lets a user move back and forth between features like email and gives apps their distinctive look and feel on a deviceis largely based on technology developed by a small Swedish tech company called The Astonishing Tribe, which RIM bought in 2010 for an undisclosed sum.
RIM licensed the camera technology of the new phone from Scalado AB of Sweden. U.K.-based TouchType Ltd. makes the predictive touch-screen keyboard, called SwiftKey, which RIM has licensed for the phone.
RIM has also bought a host of other small companies whose technology is expected to help power or enhance the phones' video sharing, Web browsing and messaging tools. Last month, RIM announced a licensing deal with Dutch company TomTom International BV to power traffic and map-related apps on BlackBerrys.
RIM has already struggled with fully integrating some of its technology acquisitions.
When RIM acquired QNX and The Astonishing Tribe, the company was still run by longtime co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, who both stepped down in January. Mr. Lazaridis, who founded the company and has long spearheaded its engineering innovations, remains on the board.
At the time of the acquisitions in 2010, Mr. Lazaridis insisted that both companies stay in their respective home cities of Ottawa and Malmo, Sweden, largely to allow them to continue developing their technology while avoiding the bureaucracy at RIM's Waterloo campus, according to people familiar with the matter.
This all didn't sit well with existing RIM employees working on other projects, according to these people. Executives would also often set staffers working on different projects to work against each other, a tactic from
RIM's early days meant to drive creativity and productivity, but one that often led to resentment and less cooperation, according to people close to the company.
Mr. Heins has tried to remedy that internal strife since taking over by focusing on the BlackBerry 10. But it is still widely believed at the company that RIM employees who are not working on the new device are in jeopardy of losing their job, say current employees and those close to the company.
"Anyone working on [the new operating system] is safe," said one current RIM employee. "Anyone working on legacy projects is preparing their resumes. I don't know anyone that isn't going to take a buyout if they offer one."
In response, the RIM spokeswoman said in an email: "While BlackBerry 10 is clearly a top priority for RIM, it is not the sole priority; and it would be inaccurate to imply that employees not working on BlackBerry 10 are not considered valuable to the company or our customers."
There have also been more minor skirmishes between RIM and its partners.
Fadi Abbas, the founder of Scalado, the company behind the camera technology that RIM showed off last month, said he was originally miffed that RIM didn't refer to his company's role during the presentation in Orlando.
RIM acknowledged the licensing agreement after a public presentation of the feature.
Mr. Abbas said it hasn't affected his relationship with RIM. He said his partnership with RIM was based on "strategic licensing that covers a lot of things," but declined to provide further details.
Write to Will Connors at firstname.lastname@example.org


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Boston-based Lifeguard Games, a kid-focused health education game company that did business as Wellapets, has changed its name to Wizdy and launched its first app, called Wizdy Pets, which teaches children about asthma management.
Wizdy also raised $300,000 in seed funding. The first tranche was announced in 2014 when the company raised $7,500 from Rough Draft Ventures. The rest of the funding came from Ray Rothrock, a partner emeritus at Venrock, and other angel investors.
Alexander Ryu, Wizdy’s former CEO, has stepped down and is now attending medical school, though he is still part of the team as an advisor. Nikita Virani, another cofounder, is now CEO.
Virani told MobiHealthNews the reason they changed their name was that Wellapets was focused only on virtual pet games. A few months ago, when the company started working on their next game, for food allergies, they decided they wanted a name that didn’t limit them to just virtual pet games.
“We started playing a lot of other games and talking to a lot of kids while we were researching what we wanted to do next and we just felt, why not try a different game?,” Virani said. “Kids don’t just play one type of game, kids are playing multiple different kinds of games at once. For allergies, we want some of our kids who are playing our asthma game to come into our next game because about 50 percent of kids who have asthma also have allergies. And if we did another virtual pet game we were not [convinced] that kids would want to play two games that were very similar to learn two very different yet essential skills.”
In Wizdy Pets, kids learn to manage their own asthma by adopting and caring for a fire-breathing dragon who has asthma. Kids administer the pet's inhaler, look out for and clean up potential asthma triggers, and play unlockable mini games so that the dragon can blow fire and defeat a smog monster. The app, available on iOS and Android devices, costs $1.99. It will also be available on Amazon soon.
Virani said that last year, they put the app on the market to beta test it and then made changes to the app based on feedback from users.
“The most important thing I think all of us learned was that kids were frustrated by our game design,” she said. “It took too long for kids to be able to progress in our game and they easily got bored with not having much more to do.”
Some of the things they added to improve these mechanics included playing mini games, reaching different challenges, and also unlocking badges. She added that now the dragon can breathe fire — which was one of the things that kids wanted to do most. Wizdy Pets also no longer requires users to give their pet the inhaler twice a day every day. The team found that because kids don’t own their own mobile devices and often rely on their parents to play the games, they weren’t able to administer the inhaler often enough.
Instead, kids can play a mini game that squeezes the 24 hour time period into a few minutes. The kid plays as a super hero who is flying through the air, and every 12 hours during their mission, they must click on the inhaler to proceed in the air without losing power.


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Last updated on November 15th, 2019 at 10:26 am
BrightFarms, the No. 1 brand of locally grown packaged salads, will expand into North Carolina with a new 280,000-s.f. hydroponic greenhouse in Hendersonville. Once complete, the farm will create 54 “green-collar” sustainable agriculture jobs that all pay a living wage and offer industry-leading health benefits and training.
The new greenhouse will grow a variety of salad greens and herbs including spring mix, spinach, baby kale, romaine, arugula and a variety of other greens not typically seen in traditional supermarkets.
By growing produce close to its consumers, BrightFarms delivers its local, pesticide-free baby greens to supermarkets in as little as 24 hours of harvest, about a week faster than leafy greens grown on the West Coast. The company says by growing indoors, the farms create ideal growing environments for plants to thrive and to maximize food safety.
The new greenhouse will add to BrightFarms’ network of local, sustainable greenhouse farms and will serve local markets including Charlotte and Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina; and Atlanta. Farms in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois already are in operation.
“Today’s consumers are searching for produce that’s fresher, safer and responsibly grown. It’s the reason that locally grown food has become the No. 1 purchase driver in produce for supermarkets,” said Steve Platt, BrightFarms CEO. “We are incredibly grateful for the support from Gov. Cooper and the North Carolina Department of Commerce and look forward to bringing local, pesticide-free leafy greens to North Carolina and neighboring states.”
“This is exciting news for Henderson County,” said North Carolina Sen. Chuck Edwards. “We welcome BrightFarms’ new jobs and investment to Appalachia’s agricultural community.”
“BrightFarms has made a tremendous investment in our state,” said North Carolina Rep. Jake Johnson. “I know they will be very successful in Henderson County and the workforce is ready to support them.”
In addition to the North Carolina Commerce and Economic Development Partnership, key partners in the project include the North Carolina General Assembly, North Carolina Community College System, Blue Ridge Community College, Henderson County, Agribusiness Henderson County, City of Hendersonville and Conserving Carolina.


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It’s already been a super exciting day for Christmastime in the Disney Parks!
Disney just announced that Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is being replaced with a new holiday after hours event called Disney Very Merriest After Hours. But if you’ve ever been to the Disney World resorts around the holidays, you’ll be VERY excited about the news we have to share.
The elaborate (and super popular) gingerbread displays are coming BACK to the resorts! Disney says that “select gingerbread displays” will be available for guests to see as part of the holiday celebrations. YAY!
In the past we’ve seen the gingerbread carousel at Disney’s Beach Club…
Last year, these gingerbread displays were cancelled, so we are SO pumped to see them return this year. Disney has not released which displays are returning, but as soon as we know, we’ll update ya! On top of the gingerbread displays, the resorts will be decked out for the holidays with trees and other holiday decor, so you can look forward to that too! Stay tuned for more holiday announcements from Disney World and Disneyland!
Which gingerbread display is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!


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Epic Mickey developer Junction Point Studio closed its doors, a Disney representative confirmed to Polygon today. The Disney-owned Austin, Tex.-based studio employed about 160 people in early 2012.
"It was with much sadness that we informed our teams today of changes to our Games organization, which include the closure of Junction Point Studios," a representative for the company told Polygon. "These changes are part of our ongoing effort to address the fast-evolving gaming platforms and marketplace and to align resources against our key priorities. We're extremely grateful to Warren Spector and the Junction Point team for their creative contributions to Disney with Disney Epic Mickey and Disney Epic Mickey 2."
A Disney representative also confirmed that Spector has left Disney Interactive following Junction Point's closure.
Since the news was announced, employees from the company have been leaving Junction Point's North Austin headquarters with their personal effects. After remaining relatively quiet after rumors of the company's closure began to circulate yesterday afternoon, a few of those recently laid off have taken to Twitter to seek new employment.
Sources close to the studio tell Polygon most of the staff at Junction Point had been on paid leave since the developer completed work on Epic Mickey 2.
The returning staff didn't seem to be sure as to whether or not the company would be closed wholesale before meeting today at 10 a.m. CT. Polygon spoke to one employee in the parking lot as they were entering the building, who said that they weren't sure what would happen when the studio met today. We were turned away from the building by representatives for the company, who said that no press inquiries would be addressed today.
Following the meeting, a slow trickle of employees left the building with their personal effects. A truck from Iron Mountain, a company specializing in "data management," arrived; presumably to transport or destroy company documents.
At last year's San Diego Comic-Con, Junction Point co-founder Warren Spector said he had designs for a third Epic Mickey game, but was unsure if it would go into production.
"I already know what the third one's going to be if enough of you buy it," he said of Epic Mickey 2.
Junction Point's most recent title, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, was released in November. According to a report from the LA Times citing the NPD Group, sales of the sequel lagged far behind its predecessor during a similar holiday period.
In an interview with Polygon last year, Spector said he saw a future in connectivity between smartphones and traditional gaming platforms.
"I make the games I want to make," he said. "I'm going to continue to do that. Anybody who doesn't work for Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo, who isn't thinking about 'How do I get a billion people with an Android, iOS or Microsoft phone in their pocket? How do they interact with my hardware?' If they're not thinking about that, they're not thinking hard enough."
Junction Point Studio was founded by Warren Spector and Art Min in 2004. The developer was acquired by Disney Interactive in 2007. Junction Point's debut effort, Epic Mickey, was released on the Wii in 2010. A sequel was released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Wii U, PC and Nintendo 3DS last year.
Disney Interactive shuttered two of its game development studios in 2011: Propaganda Games (Turok, Tron: Evolution) and Black Rock Studio (Pure, Split Second). The division has seen two restructurings over the past two years, resulting in the elimination of an estimated 250 jobs. The company seems to have focused all of its resources on Disney Infinity, the upcoming cross-platform sandbox action game from Avalanche Software.
Update: Polygon has learned that the studio's former employees have indeed been on leave since the completion of Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two in November. Folks who were laid off today had no formal forewarning that the studio would be shut down, but are receiving severance packages, the details of which were not disclosed. Furthermore, Disney retains the rights to the IP of Epic Mickey, but has no plans for the franchise at this time.
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